Trading Traditional for Contemporary

March 26, 2013 10:06 a.m. ET

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Ann and Lee Fensterstock purchased a three-bedroom apartment on the 15th floor of this building in 2006 for just over $5.85 million, according to public records. The building was designed by Gwathmey Siegel and completed in 2005. It is located at 445 Lafayette St. in Astor Place, in between the East Village and Greenwich Village. 'That's the uptown of downtown,' Mr. Fensterstock says.
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Here, the living room and kitchen. Prior to living here, the couple were in a prewar apartment on 5th Avenue in Carnegie Hill with their two daughters, now 24 and 21. They'd lived in the apartment for 15 years and it was in need of a 'sizable renovation,' says Mr. Fensterstock. 'We decided that maybe we should find something new.'
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Here, the view from the living room. The couple say their children were excited by the idea of living in downtown Manhattan, but their school was uptown, so they focused their search 'downtown, but not too far,' says Mr. Fensterstock. Astor Place was 'convenient for the girls to get back uptown to school, but it was a chance for them to see a new neighborhood.'
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One of the home's three bedrooms is pictured. 'It was time for a change, both in terms of neighborhood, and for us, a change in the design of the way in which we were living,' says Mr. Fensterstock. The family were looking for a loft-style space that had three bedrooms. 'We found some interesting spaces but they weren't geared to a family, ' he says. 'This was a great mix between having the open space but at the same time, working for a family.'
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The approximately 3,174-square-foot apartment has three full ensuite bathrooms and one partial bath. 'We lived in it for six months and then we moved out and essentially made a bunch of upgrades,' says Mr. Fensterstock. These included an upgrade of the bathrooms and new lighting. They also added wood throughout the apartment to 'warm up a contemporary space,' according to Mr. Fensterstock.
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A guest bedroom is pictured. The upgrades took about six months and cost 'seven figures plus' says Mr. Fensterstock. With the children now out of the house, the couple no longer need to be close to uptown Manhattan and are interested in living in Tribeca. '[We] thought, let's see if we can find another neighborhood and experience it,' says Mr. Fensterstock.
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The master bedroom is pictured. 'The views here are pretty tough to beat,' says Mr. Fensterstock. With 168 feet of floor-to-ceiling glass walls, the apartment has north, south and west exposures according to the listing.
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Here, the master bathroom with free-standing tub and a walk-in shower, not pictured. 'It's a very open vista,' says Mr. Fensterstock of the view. The family is open to negotiations over the furnishings.
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Mr. Fensterstock says it was 'neat' moving from a pre-war apartment to a brand new building with 'technology built in, heating and lighting and all of that,' he says. Mr. Fensterstock is an investor in financial services companies, while Ms. Fensterstock is an art historian and author.
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The couple chose contemporary decor with a few pieces of French 1940's furniture for the apartment, and have sculpture, photography and prints on display from a collection they have grown over 25 years. Pictured clockwise from left is work by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Emil Nolde, Max Beckmann, Joan Miro, and Jean Dubuffet.
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Here, the wet bar added by the family during their upgrades. The apartment was listed at the end of January with Stephen McRae and Debbie Korb of Sotheby's International Realty for just under $7 million.
Bryan Thomas for The Wall Street Journal…